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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Hong Kong : Two strains of drug resistant bacteria identified

Press release from the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health in Hong Kong, excerpt :

" The Microbiology Laboratory of the Public Health Laboratory Services Branch (PHLSB) has for the first time identified two strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae harbouring the gene encoding for the KPC carbapenemase.

Similar carbapenem-resistant bacteria, for example, those harbouring IMP gene, have been found in Hong Kong before.

A spokesman for the Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health said the gene confers resistance to the carbapenem group of antibiotics, which are broad-spectrum and usually used as second-line agents.

The finding involved two patients attending public hospitals, whose isolates were referred to PHLSB.

The patient from Queen Mary Hospital was a 66-year-old man with a history of previous hospital admission in China in October 2010. His rectal swab specimen tested positive for the KPC-harbouring K. pneumoniae strain. He was not infected but only colonised with the strain. The patient is now staying at the Tung Wah Hospital in stable condition. Isolation precautions have been implemented."

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